Warning for hospitals claim

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After 18 long months on strike for union recognition the TGWU members at Sandersons Forklift factory near Skegness were given The Health Service supervisors dispute, which ended last week with a promise of a productivity deal has important warnings for the coming conflict over health service wages.

The settlement has not be a 15% deal-as reported widely in the press-but the promise of an opportunity to negotiate productivity deal worth 15%.

The supervisors are a conservative layer of middie Whilst TGWU convenor John Farrel and other leaders at Vauxhall, Ellesemere Port, bask in the reflected glory of the Luton and Dunstable defeats, the productivity deal sell-out is being perpetrated by these same "left" posers.

Farrel, at the mass meeting which voted for strike-action after 14 days notice, advocated an "attendance allowance" and the possibility of a productivity deal, saying he was in favour of us "getting more cars out"

What at first sight seems a harmiess "attendance allowance" of 1½% is potentially a very dangerous deal which could trade hundreds of jobs for a miserable few pounds.

Farrel informed the meeting that the absentee figure of 16% was "unacceptable" and that he did not see any harm in a scheme to reduce this figure.

What he failed to realise is that a reduction in the absentee figure would enable the company to reduce the labour "pool" and would pave the way to a loss of jobs through "natural wastage" or redundancles.

On any one day at Ellesmere Port 16% of 8,500 men are absent, that is approximately 1,275 men.

If the attendance scheme can reduce this by even a quarter it management cordially hated by the maintenance workers they give instructions to, in the way that foremen are cordially hated everywhere.

Had the witch-hunt throughout the press had its desired effect on NHS workers, the supervisors could have been dispensed with, The breakdown of laundry equipment and sterile units had by far the biggest impact and work on both these pieces of equipment could have been carried out on the instructions of administrators.

But the fact is that maintenance workers and laundry workers refused to take any action designed to break the action of the works managers.

Readiness

With the works managers digging their heels in and opinion hardening after the witch-hunt, it took the interest first of Clive Jenkins and then Len Murray to break the dispute.

The readiness of such 'opponents' of wage controi as Jenkins to mediate in an attempt to sell the dispute out shows clearly the way that ASTMS , NUPE and COHSE leaderships will refuse to call action in the hospitals, either to fight against the cuts or to win wage increases.

Jo Beckies, Vice-chairman of St Mary's Hospital, London W9 Joint Shop Stewards Committee told Socialist Press precisely how the media and consultants conspired to blame the dispute on laundry and maintenance workers.

"They came down into the laundry at 12.15pm one day and switched off the machineswe were just going for lunch. Then in came the ITN and the Daily Mail and filmed the empty laundry!

"They were called in by the consultant Harris. That same lunchtime they photographed the theatre and the caption was that workers were on strike"

Jo Beckles said the action of Harris in calling in the media was part of the campaign to support the moves to close St.

Mary's.

Test of strength

When the hospital supervisors cut laundry back to 20% Harris and his consultant cronies ensured that this was used for private patients' laundry from St. Mary's Hospital in London W2!

But Jo Beckles also told Socialist Press she didn't believe that the outcome of the action was crucial for the future of other hospita! claims.

This Socialist Press cannot accept. The government used the dispute as a test of its strength in the public sector; the press showed what role it was willing to play, and the union leaders showed that they were ready to capitulate to both.

Health service workers will need to break their stranglehold as they prepare to fight for their wage claims.

STILL, WITH A BIT OF LUEX, THERELL BE NO-ONE AT THE PACKET_ THATZL GIVE US A CARD TO PLAY THE MEXT TIME WE'RE ON THE SPOT!..

NO-A DEAL WITH THE POLICE... 6 PICKETS ONLY AT EACH BRANCH!